What is a Peer Counselor?

A peer counselor helps mediate problems between students or peers by helping them find their answers in a peer counseling program that focuses on peers helping peers. The most important duty of a peer counselor is to find out challenges that are blocking the peers' way in reaching their full potential and achieving their academic goals. To do this, you need to conduct an initial assessment by doing interviews and appointments. Also, you are to listen to clients and offer advice. In addition, you are to recommend opportunities and refer them to other support agencies.

Another important duty of a peer counselor is to give emotional guidance and support to clients by giving them a shoulder to lean on. While you can be qualified for this role with just your high school diploma or GED, it is preferable if you have a bachelor's degree in either sociology or psychology. You will earn an average salary of $30,249 per year.

What Does a Peer Counselor Do

There are certain skills that many peer counselors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, listening skills and speaking skills.

Learn more about what a Peer Counselor does

How To Become a Peer Counselor

If you're interested in becoming a peer counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.4% of peer counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.7% of peer counselors have master's degrees. Even though most peer counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Peer Counselor

Top Peer Counselor Jobs Near You

Peer Counselor Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of counselor you might progress to a role such as therapist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior case manager.

Top Careers Before Peer Counselor

Internship (51,064 Jobs)

14.6 %

Volunteer (9,583 Jobs)

11.8 %

Cashier (456,110 Jobs)

9.9 %

Top Careers After Peer Counselor

Internship (51,064 Jobs)

15.9 %

Volunteer (9,583 Jobs)

8.6 %

Sales Associate (579,849 Jobs)

7.5 %

Average Salary for a Peer Counselor

Peer Counselors in America make an average salary of $37,464 per year or $18 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $57,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.

Average Peer Counselor Salary

$37,464 Yearly

$18.01 hourly

$24,00010%

$37,000Median

$57,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Peer Counselor

The role of a peer counselor includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general peer counselor responsibilities:

Provide education on medication assisted treatment
Receives a task appropriate orientation to the va wic breastfeeding program, completes virginia’s loving support through peer counseling training program
Counsels breastfeeding moms on initiation and duration at wic clinics visits

There are several types of peer counselor, including:

Counselor

Role:

While there are several different types of counselors, in general they spend their time helping people overcome and understand specific problems. Although, not every counselor is going to have a couch, as depicted by TV, most do work in private office settings.

The scope of the types of counselors seems to be never-ending. From school counselors to family and marriage counselors, and even mental health counselors, people who go into this field have a range of what area they want to focus on.

Average Salary: $36,225
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

School Counselor

Role:

Also known as guidance counselors, school counselors help students achieve the academic and social skills that they need to succeed in school and in life. They guide students through maintaining academic standards, setting goals for academic success, and improving their study habits and time management skills. They use assessments to identify students' interests, strengths, and aptitudes as well.

School counselors also help students work through personal problems that may affect their academics or relationships and help them cope with school or community related violence, accidents, and trauma.

To do this, they often offer individual counselling to help students resolve personal and interpersonal problems and group counselling to help students enhance their listening and social skills and learn how to empathise with others.

Becoming a school counselor requires a bachelor's degree in psychology, counselling, or social work, but some schools might also prefer a master's degree. School counselors also need to obtain the relevant certifications from the state where they're working. They earn an average salary of $54,913 a year.

Average Salary: $49,904
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Peer Mentor

Role:

A peer mentor supports you in a number of ways and areas in your life by walking hand in hand with you. Peer mentoring is a relationship between people who are of the same age, in which one person has more experience than the other in a particular domain and can provide support as well as knowledge and skills transfer. The peer mentor meets their mentee at least once a month and is available via email with a 24-hour response window except on weekends. They should attend an event sponsored by your department with their mentee and share their experiences about the program and courses.

The peer mentor adapts their support to the needs of their mentee which may end in academic, social, national, or other backgrounds and prior experience. They should direct their mentee to the director of graduate studies for answers to questions they can't answer.

A peer mentor generally has a good academic and student standing, a positive attitude, is willing to learn, shares information about student life and campus resources, demonstrated good interpersonal and communication skills, and a genuine desire to help their mentee.

Average Salary: $28,416
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Peer Counselor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active peer counselor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where peer counselors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Peer Counselor Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	3,226	$46,734
2	Massachusetts	2,116	$44,111
3	New York	1,671	$34,582
4	Pennsylvania	1,494	$33,943
5	Florida	1,479	$23,476
6	Texas	1,283	$31,724
7	Illinois	1,153	$38,284
8	New Jersey	911	$45,667
9	Washington	824	$44,631
10	Georgia	794	$27,123
11	Ohio	721	$34,185
12	Michigan	689	$34,836
13	Maryland	680	$38,376
14	Arizona	639	$35,510
15	Virginia	611	$38,379
16	Minnesota	595	$40,948
17	Colorado	578	$36,414
18	North Carolina	520	$30,264
19	Indiana	513	$26,937
20	Oregon	420	$34,614
21	Connecticut	415	$40,327
22	Missouri	415	$31,986
23	Tennessee	394	$31,392
24	South Carolina	378	$25,776
25	Wisconsin	347	$40,521
26	Iowa	295	$35,688
27	Louisiana	274	$26,662
28	Arkansas	255	$29,412
29	Kentucky	230	$27,335
30	Utah	202	$31,079
31	Alabama	202	$29,049
32	Oklahoma	202	$25,191
33	Maine	197	$34,420
34	Nebraska	189	$37,682
35	Kansas	179	$28,926
36	New Mexico	169	$34,531
37	Mississippi	157	$30,246
38	Nevada	154	$35,531
39	Idaho	142	$36,189
40	New Hampshire	137	$33,407
41	Montana	135	$32,025
42	Alaska	128	$42,425
43	Rhode Island	118	$31,990
44	Delaware	110	$40,658
45	Hawaii	98	$32,979
46	West Virginia	79	$41,187
47	North Dakota	73	$46,209
48	South Dakota	63	$34,974
49	Vermont	56	$39,606
50	Wyoming	49	$33,504

Peer Counselor Education

Peer Counselor Majors

Psychology

26.4 %

Business

10.3 %

Sociology

6.4 %

Peer Counselor Degrees

Admissions

Most Popular Majors

Education

Business

Biology

Political Science

English

Top Skills For a Peer Counselor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.5% of peer counselors listed peer support on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and listening skills are important as well.

Peer Support, 14.5%

Substance Abuse, 9.4%

WIC Program, 9.3%

Crisis Intervention, 7.5%

Community Resources, 5.7%

Other Skills, 53.6%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Peer Counselor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Peer Counselor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Peer Counselor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Peer Counselor Demographics

Peer Counselor Gender Distribution

Female

67%

Male

33%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among peer counselors, 67.0% of them are women, while 33.0% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among peer counselors is White, which makes up 67.0% of all peer counselors.

The most common foreign language among peer counselors is Spanish at 59.7%.

Online Courses For Peer Counselor That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure

1. Peer-to-Peer Protocols and Local Area Networks

In this course, we discuss peer-to-peer protocols and local area networks. Part one in this course is to answer the question of how does a peer-to-peer protocol deliver reliable data transfer service across unreliable transmission lines or networks. We focus on several medium access control protocols and their performance analysis. In the second part, we discuss how medium access control protocols coordinate the access to the communication channel so that information gets through from a source...

See More on Coursera

2. Introduction to Technical Support

Gain the daily work skills and knowledge you’ll need for IT Technical Support career success. This course, part of the IBM Technical Support Professional Certificate, is designed for beginners with no prior IT experience or formal degree. Get an insider’s view into IT Support work. Learn about IT Support roles and levels, the support escalation matrix, ticketing systems, common support tools, and remote support software. Then, hear about career opportunities and career pathways from...

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3. Assessing and Improving Community Health

This course is intended to serve as an introduction to population health from both the vantage point of both public health and healthcare. We will examine the key components of community health needs assessments, how they are used, and how to compare population health assessments across subpopulations and time. We will also explore the epidemiological sources and criteria by which to select high quality data sources to estimate population health indicators and to select evidence-based...

See More on Coursera

Show More Peer Counselor Courses

Job type you want

Full Time

Part Time

Internship

Temporary

Best States For a Peer Counselor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a peer counselor. The best states for people in this position are California, North Dakota, New Jersey, and Washington. Peer counselors make the most in California with an average salary of $46,734. Whereas in North Dakota and New Jersey, they would average $46,209 and $45,667, respectively. While peer counselors would only make an average of $44,631 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Massachusetts

Total Peer Counselor Jobs: 2,116

Highest 10% Earn:

$65,000

Location Quotient:

2.44

$44,111

Avg. Salary

View 2,116 Peer Counselor Jobs In MA

2. New Jersey

Total Peer Counselor Jobs: 911

Highest 10% Earn:

$71,000

Location Quotient:

1.22

$45,667

Avg. Salary

View 911 Peer Counselor Jobs In NJ

3. Washington

Total Peer Counselor Jobs: 824

Highest 10% Earn:

$60,000

Location Quotient:

1.2

$44,631

Avg. Salary

View 824 Peer Counselor Jobs In WA

Full List Of Best States For Peer Counselors

How Do Peer Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Peer Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Peer Counselor

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Bard College	$66,993	$32.21	12
2	Hartwick College	$59,457	$28.59	8
3	California State University	$51,261	$24.64	12
4	Rutgers University	$47,780	$22.97	10
5	International Rescue Committee	$47,503	$22.84	12
6	Midwestern State University	$45,647	$21.95	9
7	UCLA	$43,772	$21.04	20
8	Upward Sports	$42,000	$20.19	16
9	College Success Foundation	$41,999	$20.19	14
10	Educational Opportunities for Children and Families	$40,803	$19.62	15

Peer Counselor Videos

Careers in Psychology : What Is Psychology Peer Mentoring?

What is Peer Counseling

Updated February 6, 2023

What is a Peer Counselor?

What Does a Peer Counselor Do

How To Become a Peer Counselor

Peer Counselor Career Paths

Top Careers Before Peer Counselor

Top Careers After Peer Counselor

Recent Job Searches

Average Salary for a Peer Counselor

Roles and Types of Peer Counselor

Counselor

School Counselor

Peer Mentor

States With The Most Peer Counselor Jobs

Number Of Peer Counselor Jobs By State

Peer Counselor Education

Peer Counselor Majors

Peer Counselor Degrees

Top Colleges for Peer Counselors

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. Johns Hopkins University

3. New York University

4. University of Southern California

5. California State University - Long Beach

6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

7. University of Virginia

8. San Diego State University

9. Northwestern University

10. Harvard University

Top Skills For a Peer Counselor

Choose From 10+ Customizable Peer Counselor Resume templates

Peer Counselor Demographics

Peer Counselor Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Peer Counselor That You May Like

Best States For a Peer Counselor

How Do Peer Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Peer Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Peer Counselor

Peer Counselor Videos

Peer Counselor Related Careers

Peer Counselor Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs